Nigeria

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Federal Government College Kwali-Abuja has been shutdown after midnight attacks on the neighbouring Sheda community.

Gunmen, suspected to be bandits, attacked Sheda community on the night of Saturday June 23, 2022. According to locals, there were gunshots which lasted almost an hour and a resident was kidnapped.

Following the attack on Sheda, a community that shares the same border with the college, the school management has informed parents to pick their children from the school.

A senior staff of the college who spoke to the Daily Reality on ground of anonymity said:

“The management has gotten the approval of the Ministry of Education for parents to pick their children from the school pending when their safety can be guaranteed”.

The incident has prevented the students of the institution from completing their third term examinations, which supposed to come to an end on Tuesday.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Jobseekers in Nigeria have opened up to The Daily Reality on how some institutions in the country are degenerating into a kind of ‘Sodom and Gomorrah’, where officials allegedly request ‘sodomy’ in exchange for a job offer or promotion.

The job seekers decried how they suffer in the hands of corrupt officials who ask for a bribe in exchange for job offers or, worse, sex from female and even male job seekers.

However, they alleged that most of these ‘gay’ officials are important office holders that nobody would ever think will indulge in such heinous acts as they look and act responsibly in public.

The job seekers decided to narrate their harrowing experiences after we reported on buying and selling of job offers in Nigeria, published on March 2, 2022, which went viral.

The Daily Reality reported how the sale of job offers decimates graduates’ chances of securing jobs in Nigeria, where the national economy has remained increasingly stagnant.

According to a recent report by Bloomberg, unemployment in Nigeria has surged to the second-highest on the global list, jumping to 33.3%.

Professionals have argued that there is a need for urgent intervention to save the country from an impending danger posed by the exponential increase in unemployment.

Register with the Gay Zone Pyramid; Get Employed

Isma’il Muhammad (not real name) recounted how one Managing Director of an organisation in Kaduna wanted to sodomise him and his friend for a job offer in November last year.

He said, “In November 2021, we got a connection to meet the Managing Director (MD) of one big organisation in Kaduna State. When we arrived, we were introduced to the man in his office.

“The man promised to get us employed. He said we look very young and charming. So we were very excited to hear that from him, unknown to us that the man was gay. So he brought out job offers. But he requested we had to offer him something in return.

“We were all surprised. We thought this man meant we had to buy the offer or, at least, pay him a certain amount of money. But, to our utmost dismay, this man said we had to register with the GAY ZONE PYRAMID.

“However, we declined, and that was the end. We left his office mouth agape and without being employed,” Muhammad said in dismay.

Another job-seeker, who swore to God that he would rather die hawking than commit such evil, confided his 2020 experience in our reporter.

He said someone who pretended to care about his condition and wanted to find a better place for him sent him to a particular organisation for an interview in Kano.

He said, “Fortunately, I have all the requirements. While I thought I would be automatically employed, the man invited me to his office and confessed that he was “gay”.

“Angrily, I insulted him. I still regret knowing him. Thus, I forgot about the job.

Another source, Hashim Tijjani, said someone who promised to employ him and send him overseas had wanted to sodomise him, but God saved him from the man.

He said the man often bitterly complained that he did not use to call him as a way of showing concern to a boyfriend, the development that the guy said had confused him.

He added, “The man used to invite me to the Mai Rabo Hotel in Sabon Gari, Kano. He used to give me money to lure me. He once accused me of not being that romantic to him.

“As things escalated and I feared I might fall into his trap, I decided to give my phone to one of my friends, who told him I passed on. Since then, he stopped calling my line,” he added.

Workers seeking promotion in the same trap

According to a source familiar with the incident, the sodomy was not only limited to job-seeking. Workers seeking promotion also suffer a lot.

He said bosses nowadays ask their subordinates for sodomy before they promote them in various workplaces across the country.

He said, “My friend working with a Nigerian security agency confided in me that he failed to get promoted for declining his boss’s request for sodomy.”

He stated that his friend is still yet to be promoted. However, he had decided that he should rather die without promotion than compromise.

I declined my aged-nurse political ambition over sodomy – politician

Also, a renowned politician in Kano disclosed how he threw his aged-long political ambition over sodomy.

The politician who preferred anonymity revealed that he wanted to contest for a certain political position during the 2015 General Election after he retired from his civil service but was forced out after his political godfather solicited for sodomy in exchange for the ambition.

He confided that he was pretty perplexed and could not help but quit the race as things went beyond his imagination.

He said, “I nursed this ambition over the years, but I can’t help but withdraw from the race as my political godfather confessed that he is gay. But I see no reason to ruin my image for a so-called worldly political ambition.”

The man said he had met all the requirements and was economically stable to contest, but he would instead give up and concentrate on a business.

According to a source, who claimed that he was requested for sodomy to get a job back in 2020 in Kano, the issue of gay officials terrorising workplaces and institutions is known to many people, but they are only afraid to speak.

He stated, “You know things like this are known to many we are all pretending as if nothing goes on. Our bureaucratic system is utterly flawed.

“So, I am no longer looking for any job or favour from anybody anywhere. That is why I confidently expose the bad elements.”

‘Sodomy leads to mental disorder’

A psychiatric doctor from Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Dr Mubarak Haruna Idris, raised concerns that the act of sodomy may lead to mental illness.

In an exclusive interview with our reporter, Idris said that people who prefer the same sex might suffer from anxiety, depression and psychosis.

He stated that the behaviour “leads to other mental illness. For example, usually, these kinds of individuals tend to hide it [what they do] from others that they have a preference for their same sex.

“So, they tend to have this kind of fear and whenever it revealed. The kind of difficulty they get from their family and how people see them will make them get a mental illness like anxiety, depression and if care is not taken, psychosis.”

They are at risk of anal cancer, HIV other sexually transmitted diseases

Dr Idris also cautioned that the behaviour is associated with many health risks such as anal cancer and HIV, among other sexually transmitted infections.

Idris said, “This behaviour is associated with some health risks. One of the commonest is the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, hepatitis, syphilis, gonorrhoea and other sexually transmitted diseases. In fact, the risk of getting such diseases is higher when compared to normal vaginal sex.

“So, therefore, there is a high risk of sexually transmitted diseases. And this is due to the nature of the anal canal, which is not designed for such activity, and it can’t resist such activity that usually takes place during intercourse.

‘And then another thing is that there is a risk of getting an injury to the anal area. And when there’s injury, an infection can quickly set in, so one can end up having an infection at the anus, which, if care is not taken, can even spread to other parts of the body. There is also a high risk of anal cancer.

University don frown at the act

In an exclusive interview with our reporter, a lecturer at the Department of Business Administration and Entrepreneurship, Bayero University, Kano, Dr Mu’az Hassan Mu’az, lamented the development.

Mu’az, who frowned at the revelation, lamented that the demand for carnal knowledge to give a job offer is a serious problem that needs to be eliminated.

He also decried how the Nigerian polity is experiencing a painful decline in most of its economic activities, which may not be far from poor governance in recent years. 

“It’s unfortunate that the unemployment rate is skyrocketing in Nigeria like never before.

“Many youth graduate year-in-year-out, but without jobs to lean on. Thus the labour market has become so competitive, where only the connected get jobs.

“It’s this trend that ushered us into the era of job offer sales and other unscrupulous demands for carnal knowledge of both genders for job offers and promotion in the workplace.

The issue is alarming

Dr Mu’az also stated that if the trend continues unchecked, it could lead to numerous problems. He stated thus:

 “1. employment of people with mismatched qualifications for the job requirement. By extension, it will affect productivity.

“2. It will also lead to unprofessional development of the crop of future leaders in organisations. You may realise that those employees who are sidelined because they don’t comply with the demands of their superiors may rise to the ranks without the experience and expertise of leadership.

“3. It creates a corrupt society. As people get employed through the window, they’ll continue the gospel of corruption in their job undertakings.

“4. It will create an unserious atmosphere for students right from the university because nobody would bother to study for good grades since the jobs are for sale and not good qualifications.

“5. People’s sexual orientation might be affected due to the incessant demands for carnal knowledge of young men and women. This situation exposes people to diseases that can cause death.

“There are many adverse effects of sales of job offers and sexual demands for promotion in the workplace.

Way out

Dr Mu’azu proffers the following solutions:

“1. Job opportunities should be advertised in the dailies and electronic media;

“2. There should be equitable salaries in the country depending on the level of education of workers. This will discourage people from struggling to get white-collar jobs.

“3. A law should be enacted to address culprits, i.e. the person paying and the one receiving the money for job offers.

By Muhammad Sabiu

On Thursday, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board approved the cut-off scores for the nation’s universities and polytechnics.

This decision was reached following a contentious meeting that included representatives from the National Universities Commission, the Ministry of Education, the National Board for Technical Education, and others.

The cut-off grade for polytechnics is 120, while universities will require 140.

Recall that, according to prior reports, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, the JAMB registrar, disclosed that just 378,639 of the 1,761,338 candidates who took the 2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations got a score of 200 or higher.

Oloyede further stated, “JAMB allowed awaiting results candidates to register and sit for the 2022 UTME. These candidates can’t be considered for admission on awaiting result status. They must present their O’level results on the board’s portal before the commencement of admissions”.

By Uzair Adam Imam 

The former Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, is going to be arraigned before the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The Daily Reality gathered that the EFCC will arraign the former Accountant General Friday before Justice A.O. Adeyemi Ajayi of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja.

However, Idris was said to have been arraigned alongside three others: Godfrey Olusegun Akindele, Mohammed Kudu Usman and Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited.

Our reporters gathered that the accusations embodied a 14-count charge of stealing and criminal breach of trust to the tune of N109, 485,572,691.9. 

One of the counts reads, “That you, Ahmed Idris, while being the Accountant General of the Federation and Godfrey Olusegun Akindele while being the Technical Assistant to the Accountant General of the Federation between February and November 2021, at Abuja in the Abuja Judicial Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, in such capacity, entrusted with a certain property, to wit: N84,390,000,000(Eighty-Four Billion, Three Hundred and Ninety Million Naira) committed criminal breach of trust in respect of the said property when you dishonestly received the said sum from the Federal Government of Nigeria through Godfrey Olusegun Akindele trading under the name and style of Olusegun Akindele & Co., and you thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 315 of the Penal Code Act Cap 532 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990.”

By Hamza Sulayman, PhD

One of the most difficult questions to answer among Nigerians is “How much is your salary?”. It does not matter who asked the question; the answer is always tricky. It might be a father asking his son or daughter after spending a fortune paying for their education, or a wife asking her beloved husband. The reason behind this varies from one person to another.

I came across a US-based content creator (IG: americanincome) who moves around the cities of the US asking strangers about their annual salary. To my surprise, they always answer right away and specifically to the last dollar. He asked some follow-up questions, like what did you study? And from which university, how many years of experience do you have? And what advice will you give someone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

To me, that type of content creation is amazing because it provides the young generation with factual data on how they can achieve their goals, which is much better than what the guidance and counselling departments of schools and universities can offer. That is, if the department exists.

My recent interaction with some youth led me to believe that they are after the money or, as they say, “secure the bag”. So, for example, if you are willing to get $150,000 per year, you should work as a Data Analyst, Model, or Software Engineer. If you are humble, you can be a high school teacher and earn about $42,000 a year. If you have a higher taste, you can be a doctor or dentist and rake about $200,000 to $300,000. There are other non-formal sectors with high income, like a professional barber earning $300,000 (I was surprised too) and a sneaker dealer earning $150,000. Top on the list was a luxury watch seller that makes $1,200,000 yearly.

Enough with the numbers, can you answer the question? How much is your salary? Many people cannot answer the question because they don’t even know. After all, what they received is not what is on their offer/pay slip, or the amount is laughable. Some people don’t answer the question because of what people might expect from them. I remember one of my colleagues. He told me that when the salary scale of academic staff was circulating on social media, it became a blessing for him because his family and extended family saw his salary as a Professor and decided to reduce the responsibilities placed on him.

Although in Nigeria, what you study is not entirely relevant to where you work, having a guidance and counselling advisor or a mentor is still advisable. Find someone you want to be like in the future and ask him to mentor you. Learn from their strengths and weaknesses and be a better version of yourself. Lastly, choose a career path that will make you happy, whether it is about the monetary aspect or otherwise.

Hamza Sulayman is a postdoctoral research fellow at Zhejiang University, China. He can be reached via hamza.sulayman@gmail.com.

By Muhammad Aminu

A lecturer with Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Zoe Solomon Tamunotonye, has become a commercial bus conductor to feed his family.

Tamunotonye’s video surfaced on social media platforms earlier today, where he was busy in his newfound endeavour. He’s seen beckoning passengers to enter a commercial bus along Ikwerre Road in Port Harcourt.

He was suspended by the Management of the Polytechnic after a committee of inquiry indicted him for randy behaviour with a female student of the institution.

The academic was also accused of influencing the female student’s detention at the Sani Abacha Road Police Station in Port Harcourt.

The Polytechnic Management stopped his salary in January 2022, which reportedly made his life unbearable.

He was said to have turned around to accuse the female student of diverting the sum of N250,000 he gave her for her personnel business and holding on to his office key and other property.

It can be recalled that before Tamunotonye’s incident, the University of Abuja and Obafemi Awolowo University expelled academic staff that had sexually abused female students of their respective institutions.

By Babatunde Qodri

Since Nigeria’s independence in 1960, we have never witnessed such a long and suffocating strike as it is at the moment when public tertiary institutions would be closed down, and there would be no serious move by those concerned to avert it. In two years, our universities have suffered unprecedented deterioration due to incessant industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

Consequently, students are often condemned to stay at home. But this is what we get any time we elect a leader that cares less about the education sector. Ministers of Education and Labour Adamu Adamu and Chris Ngige, respectively, largely contribute to this agelong industrial action. Yet, despite a series of meetings, nothing tangible has happened to facilitate the return of students to class. This is unarguably appalling. 

Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, ASUU Chairman, recently revealed the lack of readiness by the Federal Government to yield to the demands of striking lecturers when he appeared on Channels TV. Osodeke slammed the Minister of Labour for misleading the public on the development while accusing the Federal Government of insincerity in its dealing with the Union. One then wonders whether this administration actually places a premium on the future of Nigerian students. The government’s body language is symptomatic of what these abandoned students have to contend with for years.

This is not to throw a jab at the Minister of Education or the Labour Minister. Unarguably, however, I am disturbed by the carefree approach of the Federal Government to the situation that affects millions of young Nigerians. It is sad to stress that this unfortunate development has resulted in many problems.

For instance, several Nigerians affected by the industrial action have been forced into activities that negatively affect society and their future. Because they say idle hands are susceptible to devilish errands, most students are now into internet fraud and other related engagements to the country’s detriment. This is in addition to the fact that some of these students, having stayed at home for a long, have lost interest in education, thereby engaging in unprofitable endeavours.

It is necessary also to admit that the protracted strike translates to a waste of time, with students spending more time than necessary. And this puts them at a disadvantage. While their counterparts in private and state universities have seamlessly unhindered years to run and complete their programs, students in public universities are trapped. Those supposed to be used as innovation agents are abandoned to situations that delimit them. This is thoroughly depressing.

Moreover, the strike has a way it contributes to the debilitating nature of the Nigerian education system. Today, Nigerian lecturers seek opportunities outside the country to make their skills and knowledge relevant. There are cases of Nigerians in the medical fields going to countries abroad in search of better conditions. This is not good for the country as it ultimately leads to a shortage of competent lecturers in our various public tertiary institutions. Even if the industrial action is called off, the fact that it has forced talented Nigerians to opt to lose confidence in the system remains a threat.

My final take: If the Federal Government cannot meet up with the demands of the Union, at least it must identify with its clamour since it is in the best interest of public tertiary institutions. Both parties must forge a new mode of communication that recognizes the yearnings of Nigerians. Done based on sincerity, the government might agree to attend to the union’s demands in batches. Between all of these is the need for committed Ministers of Labour and Education who can drive the Government to do the needful. This is necessary to put the country on the path of steady development.

Babatunde Qodri wrote via babatundelaitan@gmail.com.

By Aminu Shehu Karaye

You wake up at midnight with a running stomach, all sweating and with a terrible headache. You surrendered that it was typhoid and, of course, opened the first aid shelf and brought out some drugs to take. It was amoxicillin for typhoid and tetracycline for the running stomach. But you remembered that every Nigerian has got some malaria, so you brought out the artemether and took it also. However, are you aware of antimicrobic resistance?

Even among the literate, only a few understand the effects and dangers posed by antibiotic resistance. Especially in Nigeria, where awareness is low, the magnitude of antibiotic resistance is expected to increase considerably over the coming years due to excessive use of antibiotics and other practices that are said to trigger antimicrobial resistance.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a general term used to describe the ability of microorganisms, including those that cause diseases (pathogens), to resist the effects of drugs that were once used to kill them or slow their activities. AMR is a worldwide concern and should be taken with all seriousness. The UN ad hoc interagency coordinating group on antimicrobial resistance warns that if action is not taken, drug-resistant diseases could cause 10 million deaths annually by 2050 and damage the economy, similar to the 2008-2009 global financial crisis.

Also, by 2030, AMR could force up to 24 million people into extreme poverty. The World Health Organization identified misuse and overuse of antimicrobials; lack of access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) for both humans and animals; low-grade infection and disease prevention and control in healthcare facilities and farms; lack of access to quality, affordable medicines, vaccines, and diagnosis; lack of awareness and knowledge and lack of enforcement of legislation as the major drivers of AMR (WHO, 2021).

In Nigeria, people get antibiotics over the counter without a prescription from the appropriate specialist. An individual would take an antibiotic when he has a running stomach or even a mild headache. The misuse of antibiotics is one of the biggest causes of antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria can also be transferred from animals to humans and vice-versa. Poultry is one of the leading industries that harbours these resistant bacteria. Due to our everyday association with poultry animals, we will likely get these bacteria into our bodies. Many other ways exist in which AMR can be established. However, it is our responsibility to curb this menace as we are the ones in danger!

Curbing the menace of AMR is everyone’s business. No matter how careful you are with antibiotics, you might buy and consume a chicken grown with antibiotics as a growth promoter, which will surely trigger resistance. Therefore, from farmers to healthcare workers to everyone else, we must all play our parts to control antimicrobial resistance.

In Nigeria, there is a need for appropriate bodies and the government to educate the masses and warn them about the dangers of antibiotic misuse. The government should also ban selling antibiotics over the counter, without doctors’ prescription, and see that previous restrictions on antibiotics are implemented.

No action today, no cure tomorrow!

Aminu Shehu Karaye wrote this article via aminushehukaraye@gmail.com.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau, SAN, has emerged winner in the presidential election of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA.

The Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association, ECNBA, conducted an electronic election on Saturday, June 16, 2022, to elect the association’s president and 10 other national executives. 

Maikyau, SAN, polled 22342 in the election to defeat his closest rival, JK Gadzama SAN, who polled 10842.

Maikyau was born on February 6, 1965. He obtained a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) Degree from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, in 1989, then attended the Nigerian Law School, Lagos Campus and was called to the Nigerian Bar on December 12, 1990.

Maikyau would be succeeding Olumide AKpata as the 36th president of the NBA.

By Muhammad Sabiu

The Flutterwave Graduate Trainee Programme has officially been launched, according to Flutterwave, a top African payments technology firm.

Through the training of technical and soft skills, exposure to Flutterwave’s solutions and products, and hands-on work experience at a large corporation, this program seeks to develop 200 young Nigerians. 

Additionally, the training will educate students on the culture, values, vision, and mission of Flutterwave, as well as its network of past and present workers.

With the primary goal of boosting the economy by producing skilled employment for young Nigerian graduates, Flutterwave published the application portal earlier in July 2022 to allow fresh graduates from all around Nigeria to apply for desirable roles in the company.

Chief Operating Officer of Flutterwave, Bode Abifarin, was quoted as saying:

“Flutterwave is an African company built to solve African challenges with African solutions. Some of the biggest challenges we have faced at Flutterwave have been solved by enlightened African tech experts with African needs in mind. Therefore, we would not be living up to our company’s ethos if we did not offer a leg-up to the young talent available and inspire and train them to ensure that the next future challenges in Africa’s tech scene are solved by talented young Africans.

“The graduate trainee programme and the job fair represent Flutterwave’s commitment to offering these talented individuals the opportunity to share their innovations and expertise with leading experts and tech entrepreneurs not only in Nigeria but across the continent. We hope that by powering the youth’s dreams, we power the continent’s tech scene as well.’’

Applications are expected to close on July 15, 2022.

Applicants for the upcoming Graduate trainee programme should apply via this link (https://flutterwave.com/gb/careers/graduates)

Applicants applying for the Flutterwave Job Fair are to apply through this link (https://flutterwavejobfair.disha.page/)